The instant disclosure relates to actuators for medical devices. In particular, the instant disclosure relates to restraining assemblies to hold such actuators in particular positions and/or to make it easier to move such actuators in one direction versus another.
Catheters, including electrophysiology catheters, are used in a variety of diagnostic and therapeutic procedures to diagnose and/or treat conditions such as atrial arrhythmias. Typically, a catheter is deployed and manipulated through a patient's vasculature to the intended site, such as a site within a patient's heart.
To position a catheter within the body at a desired site, some type of navigation must be used, such as using mechanical steering features incorporated into the catheter (or an introducer sheath, which itself is a type of catheter-like medical device). In some examples, medical personnel may manually manipulate and/or operate the catheter using these mechanical steering features.
In order to facilitate the advancement of a catheter through a patient's vasculature, the simultaneous application of torque at the proximal end of the catheter and the ability to selectively deflect the distal tip of the catheter in a desired direction can permit medical personnel to adjust the direction of the advancement of the distal end of the catheter and to selectively position the distal portion of the catheter during a procedure. The proximal end of the catheter can be manipulated to guide the catheter through the patient's vasculature. The distal tip of the catheter can be deflected by a pull wire or other tension member attached or anchored at the distal end of the catheter and extending proximally to an actuator in a control handle that controls the application of tension on the pull wire.